I guess I'm the lucky one...my cowl vent worked without any "assistance". A couple of thoughts, for what they are worth.. The vent opening handle and mechanism shouldn't move easily, since you'll want it to stay in place when drivin' on the highway. A gentle mist of WD40 helped make mine work fine. My Dad used to work on these trucks in 54' and he told me to be careful when dissasembling the handle and assembly, since it is a pain in the @#$%%^& to re assemble and adjust.
Good luck!!
